01/2010 MAGAZINE FILIPPI CLINCHES MAIDEN WIN RACE REPORT - BRNO DOUBLE PODIUM FOR PISCOPO NEXT STOP, IMOLA RACE REPORT - BRNO FILIPPI AND ARABADZHIEV SHARE WINS IN BRNO Arabadzhiev leads the group at the start of Race 2 Round 01 despite starting from P10, thanks to a performance and a final charge that Auto GP’s maiden race saw Luca good start and a great race pace. saw him clinch the second fastest lap Filippi clinch a dominant win, passing “We knew that a clear track was the of the race. The best lap was posted from 5th to first position thanks to a only way to take the best from a new by Filippi: thanks to that extra point, superb drive and to a perfect pit set of tires”, said Filippi, “and we the Italian driver is now leading the strategy by his team, Euronova Racing. decided to pit very early. It worked and championship, tied with Piscopo. At the start Jonny Reid was on pole, I really have to thank the team for In a quite uneventful race, three drivers but the kiwi driver stalled his car and making the right choice”. were halted by a mix of mistakes and the whole group had to avoid him. bad luck: Duncan Tappy, who was third Fabio Onidi took the lead in front of Round 02 in the first laps, had to serve a drive- Edoardo Piscopo and Adrian Zaugg, Vladimir Arabadzhiev was the second through penalty for jumping the start who was immediately passed by Filippi winner of the inaugural Auto GP event. while Onidi had to retire when his car for P3. Another 30 seconds in the race Adrian Zaugg was on pole for race 2, stopped on track with no fuel; a and the Safety-Car came in for a but the Bulgarian driver managed a problem with the refueling machine contact between Giorgio Iaconelli and better start and entered the first corner used before the race was the cause. Giorgio Pantano that forced both in the lead, keeping P1 until the Bad luck also for Tambay, who lost 3rd drivers out of the race. At the restart, checkered flag. Zaugg tried to put place due to a broken suspension with Filippi was the first driver to pit, and pressure on him lap after lap, but this just two laps to go. then took full advantage of his new wasn’t enough and the Trident Racing “Frankly, I was not sure about my tires and a clear track to build a driver closed the race in second chances” said Arabadzhiev “because I wonderful comeback. Onidi kept a position, ahead of Piscopo. Edoardo’s was racing on old tires. Anyway, I did a good pace with no mistakes, but with 3rd place meant two podiums in a row great start, and from then on things no new rubber to use he had to settle for him, the championship lead and a were easy. Adrian was gaining time in for third place, behind a nearly perfect wonderful 1-3 result for DAMS. Julian the fast section, but I was able to build Piscopo. Jan Charouz was 4th overall Leal was 4th after a very consistent up the gap in the other sectors”. 2 WHO’S THE LEADER ROUND 01 1. Luca Filippi (Euronova Racing) 17 laps in 32’28"658 2. Edoardo Piscopo (Dams) + 5”896 3. Fabio Onidi (Lazarus) + 9”236 4. Jan Charouz (Charouz-Gravity Racing) +14”524 5. Duncan Tappy (Dams) +16”056 6. Adrien Tambay (Charouz-Gravity Racing) +25”073 7. Vladimir Arabadzhiev (Dams) +25”426 8. Adrian Zaugg (Trident Racing) +29”133 ROUND 02 1. Vladimir Arabadzhiev (Dams) 13 laps in 22'58”445 2. Adrian Zaugg (Trident Racing) +0”486 3. Edoardo Piscopo (Dams) + 2”304 4. Julian Leal (Trident Racing) +4”365 5. Walter Grubmüller (Charouz-Gravity Racing) +5”859 6. Jan Charouz (Charouz-Gravity Racing) +8”101 DRIVERS CLASSIFICATION All Italian 1. Luca Filippi, 12 points podium for 2. Edoardo Piscopo, 12 points Race 1 3. Vladimir Arabadzhiev, 8 points 4. Fabio Onidi, 6 points 5. Adrian Zaugg, 6 points 6. Jan Charouz, 6 points 7. Duncan Tappy, 4 points 8. Julian Leal, 3 points 9. Adrien Tambay, 3 points 10. Walter Grubmüller, 2 points 11. Jonny Reid, 1 point An happy Sospiri hails Filippi’s win TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN! One of the reasons for the huge Auto GP success is the prize money. The series puts 200.000 euros up for grabs at each race weekend, to be shared between the 6 best drivers of the weekend. So, let’s see who took the money: Filippi and Piscopo are sharing the top spot so they will also share the prize for 1st and 2nd place, taking home 65.000 euros each. Arabadzhiev, lone third, won 30.000 euros, while three drivers are sharing the last part of the prize. Zaugg, Onidi and Charouz are tied on points for the remaining 40k, so each one of them will get 13.333 euros. But there’s one condition: to collect the money the drivers have to contest at least 4 of the six series events. 3 RACE REPORT - BRNO THE RECORD BREAKER If anybody still had any doubts about modification and updates designed rear wings and a new engine hood the Auto GP performance, the by Coloni Motorsport. Nearly every fin that is very similar to the ones Brno weekend made clear what the part of the car was interested by seen on the 2010 F.1 cars. Zytek powered Lola is capable of. some changes, but three main areas Besides this, Auto GP agreed with Auto GP came home from Brno underwent major modifications. For Zytek to increase the power output of holding the new official track record, the tires, the series organization the 3.4 litres engine from 520 to 550 thanks to the 1’43”260 posted by decided to change manufacturer, bhp, a figure achieved without any Luca Filippi in race 2. The previous choosing Michelin as official supplier, worries for the unit’s reliability, still record, held by A1 GP (Alex Yoong changing also the tires dimension. optimal. It was an hard task, but posted a 1’47”396 with Team Compared to A1 GP, the Auto GP judging on the pace of the cars in Malaysia in 2006) was beaten by 4 tires are wider at the front and Brno, it was worth an impressive full seconds. If this is a remarkable narrower on the rear, something that 7 tenths per km improvement, achievement itself, what makes it turned the balance of the car from leaving A1 GP 4” adrift and Formula even bigger is that the chassis is understeering to slightly 2 far behind. Looking at the F2 2009 basically the same: Auto GP uses the oversteering. To suit the new balance timesheets the best lap of the series same Lola B05/52 monocoque that and increase overall downforce also in the Brno races was Robert A1 GP was using in 2006, but the car aerodynamics were tweaked, Wickens’ 1’49”747, meaning was made quicker thanks to with brand new front and a 6”5 gap! 4 jWHAT THEY SAID Jonny Reid “I'm really happy of the car. Auto GP did what A1 GP should have done when it was racing this car. Now there's more power, more grip both from the tires and the aero, it's a real racecar". Edoardo Piscopo “Passing from F2 to Auto GP gave the same feeling I had when, after the 2008 Italian F3 season, I tested the Fer- rari F.1 car. You simply can’t compare them, because they are on diffe- rent levels. Everything in the Auto GP is impressive, and the downforce is mas- sive: taking the first Brno corner in fifth gear with the engine screaming in the back was a real joy”. Celso Miguez Charouz at full speed “Compared to the Wsr by on Brno’s main straight Renault, which was most powerful car I had ever dri- ven until 2009, on the Auto GP Lola you can clearly feel that you have 100 bhp more. Furthermore, the downforce is very good even if the car isn’t using ground effect”. 5 RACE REPORT - BRNO DAMS, EURONOVA AND CHAROUZ ON TOP From a team’s point of view, Brno was undoubtedly a dream weekend for DAMS. The French outfit managed to place one of its cars in the top three in every session, and when it came to racing the team collected one win, with Arabadzhiev, and two podium finishes with Piscopo. This means an already clear lead in the teams standings, in front of Euronova. The Italian team deployed a faultless performance, Giorgio collecting 12 points with just one Pantano car thanks to Filippi clinching the feature race win and the two fastest laps. Third position is for Charouz- Gravity racing: the home race was Walter Grubmüller very important to the Czech team and the weekend outcome is very positive, with two drivers in the points in each race. In race 1 Jan Charouz was 4th and Adrien Tambay 6th, while in the shortest run Walter Grubmüller was fifth in front of Charouz 6 TEAM STANDINGS 1. DAMS, 22 points 2. Euronova Racing, 12 points 3. Charouz-Gravity Racing, 11 points 4. Trident Racing, 9 points 5. Team Lazarus, 6 points 6. Super Nova, 1 point THE LONGEST JOURNEY On Sunday evening in Brno Jonny Reid was really disappointed, and there was a good reason for that.